Shoe



J. A. HOLMES May 9, 1933.

SHOE

Filed April 9. 1932 1 11 U677 for Patented May 9, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JAMES A. HOLMES, OF WTIIT'MAN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO REGALSHOE COM- SPANY OF WHITMAN, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS snoE Application filed April: 9,

This invention relates to shoes and is intended to provide a. construction for a shoe upper that will insure the maximum of comfort and ease to the wearer, while at the same time producing a snugness of fit'to Conform to the shape of the foot that it is difiicult to obtain with the usual construction of shoe upper. Another feature of the improvement is the provision of a'construction for a low cut shoe that tends to exclude rain or snow or sand from penetrating to the inside of the shoe when the shoe is properly fitted tothe foot of the wearer.

These andother features of the invention 'will be particularly described in the follow- 'ing specification and will be defined in'the claims annexed.

In the accompanying drawingis illustrated one form of construction and arrangement embodying the principles of this in vention, in which i Fig. 1 is a perspective View of the finished shoe partly'broken awayto show otherwise concealed construction.

Fig. 2 is a-longitudinal section through the tongue portion of the shoe onlsectional plane 22, Fig. 1. I Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view through the tongue portion of thepshoeon sectional plane 3 3, Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 are further transverse sections on the planes, respectively, 4+4 and 55 as shown in Fig. 1. i

Fig. 6 is a plan View indicating the outline of the forward portion of the blanked-out upper'before it is prepared for lastinga'nd for attachment of the bottom.

In the practice of the invention the shoe bottom 10 is of usual or suitable construction to which the outer edges of the appropriate form of upper 11 is attached by stitching in the usual manner. The forepart of the upper 11, when 'blfankedout,-is formed at its medial portion alongtheinstep line with a relatively widevent opening or gap extend- 1932. Serial No. 604,164.

ing forwardly fromthe top edge 16 of the up- I per toward the ball line of the shoe and this vent opening is cut preferably to leave at its forward end an integral tab 15, which forms a portion of the tongue structure of the shoe. The tongue 18 is made of apiece of soft thin leather, whose forward edge portion underlies the rear edge of the tab 15'to which it is stitched by a transverse row of stitching. This tongue piece 18 is much wider than the gap between the edges of the upper bounding the vent opening, so that asshown in Fig. 3 and. Fig; 4 the lateral marginal portions of the'tongue may be folded back to lie against the inside face of the marginal portions of the upper 11 bounding the vent so as to form a bellows tongue completely excluding the entrance of water or other foreign substance i'ntothis portion of the shoe.

Over the waist or instep portion of the shoe upper. are located a pair of oppositely disposed saddle pieces 20, whose outer edge portions are united together with the underlying portion of the upper 11 to the bottom by stitching in the usual manner, but whose inner edges are preferably skived, folded back underneath and secured to the outer portion by alineof stitches, as shown at 20", thus forming a complete continuous loop along the inner edge portion of each saddle piece forits whole distance, except that. small openings are cut through .the doubled edge of each saddle, as shown at 20,suflicient to allow theflinserti'on of the shoelace w: in the manner shown in Fig. 1. The doubled over portions or loops .ofthe saddle pieces extend considerably"beyond the adjacent edges of the upper 11 bounding the vent and overlie both the tongue tab 15 and the tongue" 18 so that when the laces'are drawn the saddle members act to bring the sub-tending waist portion of the upper in snugcontact .with'the waist portion ofthefoot thereby giving a firm but flexible. support for this portion of the foot, whichis very desirable. 9

A draw strap 22 is inserted between the rear portion of the upper 11 and the lining l3 and is anchored at its rear end to the upper by appropriate stitching, while the forward 5 end of each draw strap passes out through a slit or opening 12 adjacent to the rear end of the vent. This exposed portion of each draw strap is folded back and stitched to the body portion to form loop portion 22 lo cated to normally lie in alignment with the loop portions of the saddle pieces 20, so that the shoe lace ends may be threaded through the loops 22 of the draw straps after they have been threaded through the saddle loops, as above explained.

The upper is cut for any particular last representing any predetermined size of foot so asto leave a fairly narrow space between the two looped ends of the saddle pieces and of the draw straps when the lace is drawn tightly after the foot has been inserted. The oldest is to simultaneously draw the waist portion of the shoe through the action of the shoe laces on the saddle pieces to snugly grip the waist of the foot, while at the same time the draw straps contract the upper interior edge portion of the rear: portion of the shoe upperaround the ankle and the heel of the foot to avoid leaving .any gapbetween the foot and the opening in the upper through whichthe foot is inserted. By this construction the edges of both the vent and the footinsertion opening are drawn snugly to the corresponding outline of the foot and thus tends to not only exclude the entrance of foreign substances but also to prevent objectionable slipping of the shoe on the foot after the shoe has been properly laced and tied. The bellows construction of the tongue allows the drawing nearer together of the loop portions or flies of the saddle without objectitonable displacement of the edges of the tongue, which would be" likely to occur if the side edges of the tongue were left free and of course prevents the penetration water or foreign substances through the opening between the flies since the water will be shed or deflected downward over the outside surface of the upper withoutentering the'interior ofthe shoe.

What I claim is: V

1. A shoe upper provided with an instep vent of substantial width and having atongue tab; integral with the vamp projecting into the, forward end portion of said vent, exterior saddle pieces extending from the shoe bottom towardtheinedial line of the vent so as to substantially'overlap beyond the lateral edges of the vent, said'saddle pieces having their inner. marginal portions doubled back to form a continuous loop from the lower to the upper edge thereof, the looped portion of each saddle piece being provided with arseries of lace-receiving apertures arranged in opposed pairs, and a bellows tongue stitched at its forward end to said tongue tab and along its lateral edges to the adjacent lateral edge portions of the upper adj acent said instep vent.

2. A shoe upper provided with an instep vent of substantial width and having a tongue tab integral with the vamp projecting into the forward end portion of said vent, exterior saddle pieces extending from the shoe bottom toward the medial line of the vent so as .to substantially overlap beyond the lateral edges .of the vent, said saddle pieces having their inner marginal portions d0ubled back to form a continuous loop from the front to the rear .thereof, the looped portion of each saddle piece ibeing pnovidedwitha series of lace-receiving apertures arranged in opposed pairs, and a bellows tongue stitched at its forward end to said tongue tab and along its lateral edges to the adjacent lateral edge portions of the upperadja-cent said instep vent, a draw strap located between the lining .and the upper along each interior edge of the rear portion of the upper and projecting :out through the upper to overlap the edge of the rear portion of theinstep vent, said projecting portion being doubled on itself to form a lace-receiving loop in substantial alignment with the adjacent loopportion of the adjacent saddle piece.

3. A shoe upper formed with afoot-receiving opening .and an instep vent extending forwardly therefrom, opposed exterior saddle pieces extending over the waist portion of the upper, each having its inner edge portion formed'into a continuous lace-receiving loop provided at intervals with small lace-receiving apertures in its folded edge for the insertion and emergence of a shoe lace, a draw strap extending around the interior edge portion of each side of the rear part of the upper between the upperand its lining, and having its forward end extending out through a slot in the upper to form a lace-receiving loop projecting beyond the vent edge of the upper in substantial alignment with the corresponding loop portion of the adjacent saddle piece and in opposition to the loop end of the other draw strap.

4. A shoe upper formed with a foot-receiving opening and an instep vent extending forwardly therefrom, opposed exterior :saddle pieces extending over thewaist portion 1 of the upper, each having its inner edge portion formed into a continuous lace-receiving loop provided at intervals with small lacereceiving apertures in its folded edge for the insertion and emergence of a shoe lace, a draw strap extending around the interior edge portion of each side of the rear part of the upperbe-tween the upper andits lining, and having its forward end extending out through a slot in the upper to form a lacereceiving loop projecting beyond the vent edge of the upper in substantial alignment .1

with the corresponding loop portion of the adjacent saddle piece and in opposition to the loop end of the other draw strap, and a bellows tongue stitched to the lateral and forward edges of the upper bounding the instep Vent to form a complete closure of the Vent underneath the interioredge portions of the saddle pieces.

In Witness whereof, I have subscribed the above specification.

JAMES A. HOLMES. 

